Decorative grass having an appearance simulating the appearance of cloth

ABSTRACT

Decorative grasses having an appearance or texture simulating the appearance or texture of cloth are disclosed, as are methods for making such decorative grasses from materials wherein at least one surface of the material is modified to simulate the appearance or texture of cloth.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/114,658, filedApr. 26, 2005; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/667,908,filed Sep. 22, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,902,644; which is acontinuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/238,448, filed Sep. 9, 2002, now U.S.Pat. No. 6,673,422; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No.09/612,535, filed Jul. 7, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,735, issued Jan.28, 2003; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 09/139,177filed Aug. 24, 1998, now abandoned; which is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. Ser. No. 09/098,898 filed Jun. 17, 1998, now abandoned; whichclaims benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of provisional application U.S.Ser. No. 60/050,867, filed Jun. 26, 1997, now abandoned; the contents ofeach of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to polymeric materials having anappearance simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereof, andmore particularly but not by way of limitation, to flower pot covers,floral wrappings, ribbon materials and decorative grasses made from suchpolymeric materials. In one aspect, the present invention relates tomethods for producing flower pot covers and methods of wrapping floralgroupings and flower pots with a sheet of polymeric material having anappearance simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereof toprovide a decorative cover for such floral groupings and flower pots. Inyet another aspect, the present invention relates to methods ofproducing decorative grasses having an appearance or texture simulatingthe appearance or texture of cloth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet of polymeric material having afinish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereofconstructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sheet of polymeric material having afinish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereof similarto the sheet of polymeric material of FIG. 1 wherein a bonding materialis disposed along one edge thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sheet of polymeric material having afinish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereof of FIG. 2having a floral grouping disposed thereon.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the floral grouping of FIG. 3 beingwrapped with the sheet of polymeric material having a finish simulatingthe appearance of cloth on a surface thereof of FIG. 2 by one method ofwrapping.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a decorative cover for the floralgrouping formed from the sheet of polymeric material of FIG. 2 whereinthe decorative cover formed from the sheet of polymeric material has aconical configuration.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a decorative cover formed from the sheetof polymeric material of FIG. 2 wherein a floral grouping is wrappedwith the sheet of polymeric material having a finish simulating theappearance of cloth on a surface thereof by a second method of wrappingso that the decorative cover formed from the sheet of polymeric materialhaving a finish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereofhas a substantially cylindrical configuration.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a decorative cover positioned about aflower pot wherein the decorative cover is formed from the sheet ofpolymeric material having a finish simulating the appearance of cloth ona surface thereof of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a flower pot cover former and bandapplicator apparatus having the sheet of polymeric material having afinish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereof of FIG. 1disposed above an opening of the flower pot cover former and bandapplicator and having a flower pot disposed above the sheet of polymericmaterial having a finish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surfacethereof.

FIG. 9A is a perspective view of a sheet of expanded core polymeric filmhaving a finish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereofwherein an acrylic heat sealable lacquer is disposed on at least onesurface thereof.

FIG. 9B is a perspective view of a laminated sheet of material whereinone surface is modified or textured to provide the sheet of laminatedmaterial with a finish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surfacethereof.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a preformed pot cover formed from asheet of the polymeric material having a finish simulating theappearance of cloth on a surface thereof similar to the sheet ofpolymeric material of FIG. 1, a sheet of the expanded core polymericfilm of FIG. 9A, or a laminated sheet of material of FIG. 9B.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the preformed pot cover of FIG. 10having a flower pot disposed therein.

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic, cross-sectional view of a male and femalemold having a sheet of the expanded core polymeric film of FIG. 9Adisposed therebetween for forming the preformed pot cover of FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a floral sleeve formed from the sheetof polymeric material having a finish simulating the appearance of clothon a surface thereof.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the floral sleeve of FIG. 13 disposedabout a floral grouping.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a floral sleeve having a cinchingmember wherein the floral sleeve is formed from a sheet of polymericmaterial having a finish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surfacethereof.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the floral sleeve of FIG. 15 disposedabout a floral grouping.

FIG. 17 is a side view of a sleeve having a detachable portion whereinthe sleeve is formed from a sheet of polymeric material having a finishsimulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereof.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the sleeve of FIG. 17 having a flowerpot disposed therein.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a flower pot disposed in the sleeve ofFIG. 17 wherein an upper portion of the sleeve has been removed toprovide a decorative cover having a skirt.

FIG. 20A is a perspective view of a polymeric ribbon material having afinish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surface thereof.

FIG. 20B is a perspective view of a polymeric ribbon material formed ofan expanded core polymeric film.

FIG. 20C is a perspective view of a laminated polymeric ribbon whereinat least one surface of the laminated polymeric ribbon is modified ortextured to provide the laminated polymeric ribbon with a finishsimulating the appearance of cloth.

FIG. 21 is a schematic representation of a system for making decorativegrass having a texture or appearance simulating the texture orappearance of cloth in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 22A is a perspective view of a segment of decorative grass having afinish simulating the appearance of cloth produced from the polymericmaterial having a finish simulating the appearance of cloth on a surfacethereof.

FIG. 22B is a perspective view of a segment of decorative grass having afinish simulating the appearance of cloth produced from a laminatedpolymeric material having a finish simulating the appearance of cloth ona surface thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES 1-9

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, designated generally by the referencenumeral 10 is a sheet or web of polymeric material having a textureand/or appearance simulating the texture and/or appearance of cloth(hereinafter referred to as the sheet of polymeric material 10 or thesheet of polymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearance). That is,at least one surface of the sheet of polymeric material 10 has beenmodified to provide a matte or textured finish simulating the appearanceand/or texture of cloth. The term “finish simulating the appearance ofcloth” may be used interchangeably with the terms “cloth-appearingtextured or matte finish”, “cloth-like finish” and “cloth-likeappearance”.

The term “appearance or texture simulating the appearance or texture ofcloth” as used herein will be understood to include textures and/orappearances and/or surface modifications of a polymeric material suchthat the polymeric material is provided with at least one surfacethereof which simulates the texture or appearance of a woven material, anonwoven material, a welded material, a spun bonded material, or aknitted or pressed fabric of fibrous material. The term “appearance ortexture simulating the appearance or texture of cloth” as used hereinwill also be understood to include textures and/or appearancessimulating the texture or appearance of cotton, wool, silk, hair,burlap, and linen, as well as synthetic fibers such as rayon andpolyester, and blends thereof, such as denim. While different types ofcloth have been disclosed hereinabove, it will be understood that apolymeric material having at least one surface thereof modified suchthat the surface is provided with a texture or appearance simulating thetexture or appearance of cloth of the present invention will not belimited to appearances simulating the types of cloth described herein,and the texture or appearance may simulate other types of cloth whichfall within the scope of the invention.

The modification of the sheet of polymeric material 10 to provide thesheet of polymeric material with a matte or textured finish simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth can be accomplished in severalways. For example, a matte finish can be provided by printing a desiredpattern on the sheet of polymeric material and thereafter laminating amatte material, such as a translucent polymeric film, over the printedpattern. To further enhance the appearance or texture simulating theappearance or texture of cloth of the sheet of polymeric material 10,the matte material may or may not have a plurality of spatially disposedholes extending therethrough. A matte or textured finish simulating theappearance of cloth can also be produced by printing a sheet ofpolymeric material with a matted (i.e. dull finish) ink, by lacqueringat least one surface of the sheet of polymeric material with a dullfinish lacquer or a matting lacquer, by embossing the sheet of polymericmaterial to provide an embossed pattern simulating the weave or textureof cloth, or by flocking the sheet of polymeric material, or byapplication of a foamable lacquer or foamable ink to the sheet ofpolymeric material, or by embossing and printing the sheet of polymericmaterial to provide embossed and printed patterns wherein the embossedand printed patterns may be in registry, out of registry, or wherein aportion of the embossed and printed patterns are in registry and aportion of the embossed and printed patterns are out of registry. Inaddition, a matte or textured finish capable of providing the sheet ofpolymeric material with a texture and/or appearance simulating thetexture and/or appearance of cloth can be achieved by extruding apolymeric resin onto a matted or textured chill roll or by laminating asecond sheet of material to the sheet of polymeric material.

The sheet of polymeric material 10 having an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth has an upper surface14, a lower surface 16, and an outer peripheral edge 18. At least onesurface of the sheet of polymeric material 10, such as the lower surface16, is matted or textured as described above to provide the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 with an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth. The outer peripheral edge 18 of thesheet of polymeric material 10 comprises a first side 20, a second side22, a third side 24, and a fourth side 26. A bonding material 27 (FIG.2) may be disposed on at least a portion of one or both surfaces of thesheet of polymeric material 10, such as the upper surface 14 thereof asshown and as further illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,364, entitled“WRAPPING A FLORAL GROUPING WITH SHEETS HAVING ADHESIVE OR COHESIVEMATERIAL APPLIED THERETO”, issued to Weder on Jan. 26, 1993, thespecification of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

The sheet of polymeric material 10 having at least one surface thereofmodified so as to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth may be employed to provide a decorative cover for a floralgrouping (FIGS. 3 through 6); or to form a decorative cover for a flowerpot (FIG. 7); or to form a preformed flower pot cover for covering aflower pot (FIGS. 10 and 11); or to provide a sleeve for wrapping orcovering a floral grouping (FIGS. 13 through 16) or a flower pot (FIGS.17 through 19); or to provide a ribbon material having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth (FIG.20A through 20C); or to produce decorative grass (FIGS. 21 through 22B).The use of the sheet of polymeric material 10 having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth to forma decorative cover for a floral grouping or a flower pot, or to form asleeve for a floral grouping or a flower pot, or to form a preformedflower pot cover, or as a ribbon material or to produce decorativegrasses will be described in more complete detail herein.

As noted above, the sheet of polymeric material 10 having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can beutilized to form a decorative cover for a floral grouping or a flowerpot. The term “flower pot” as used herein refers to any type ofcontainer for holding a floral grouping, or a plant, or even anotherpot-type container. Examples of flower pots and/or pot-type containersinclude, but are not limited to, clay pots, wooden pots, plastic pots,pots made from natural and/or synthetic fibers, or any combinationthereof. Such flower pots and/or pot-type containers are provided with aretaining space for receiving a floral grouping. The floral grouping maybe disposed within the retaining space of the flower pot with a suitablegrowing medium described in further detail below, or other retainingmedium, such as a floral foam. It will also be understood that in somecases the floral grouping, and any appropriate growing medium or otherretaining medium, may be disposed in a sleeve formed from the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 if the sleeve is adapted to contain a medium.

“Floral grouping” as used herein means cut fresh flowers, artificialflowers, a single flower or other fresh and/or artificial plants orother floral materials and may include other secondary plants and/orornamentation or artificial or natural materials which add to theaesthetics of the overall floral grouping. Further, the floral groupingmay comprise a growing potted plant having a root portion as well.However, it will be appreciated that the floral grouping may consist ofonly a single bloom or only foliage, or a botanical item (not shown), ora propagule. The term “floral grouping” may be used interchangeablyherein with the term “floral arrangement”. The term “floral grouping”may also be used interchangeably herein with the terms “botanical item”and/or “propagule.”

The term “growing medium” when used herein means any liquid, solid orgaseous material used for plant growth or for the cultivation ofpropagules, including organic and inorganic materials such as soil,humus, perlite, vermiculite, sand, water, and including the nutrients,fertilizers or hormones or combinations thereof required by the plantsor propagules for growth.

The term “botanical item” when used herein means a natural or artificialherbaceous or woody plant, taken singularly or in combination. The term“botanical item” also means any portion or portions of natural orartificial herbaceous or woody plants including stems, leaves, flowers,blossoms, buds, blooms, cones, or roots, taken singularly or incombination, or in groupings of such portions such as bouquets or floralgroupings.

The term “propagule” when used herein means any structure capable ofbeing propagated or acting as an agent of reproduction including seeds,shoots, stems, runners, tubers, plants, leaves, roots or spores.

In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth is square. It will be appreciated,however, that the sheet of polymeric material 10 having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can beof any shape, configuration or size as long as the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 is sufficiently sized and shaped to wrap and encompass afloral grouping or a flower pot. For example, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 may have a rectangular, round, oval, octagonal orasymmetrical shape. Further, multiple sheets of the polymeric material10 may be used in a single circumstance to provide a decorative cover orsleeve for a floral grouping or a flower pot. Moreover, when multiplesheets of the polymeric material 10 having an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth are used incombination, the sheets of polymeric material 10 need not be uniform insize or shape. Finally, it will be appreciated that the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth shown herein is a substantially flatsheet except for the texturing, matting, embossing, flocking,application of a foamable lacquer or foamable ink, or other treatmentsand techniques employed to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10with the desired texture or matting so that the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 has the appearance of cloth.

Any thickness or stiffness of the sheet of polymeric material 10 may beutilized in accordance with the present invention as long as at leastone surface of the sheet of polymeric material 10 can be modified toprovide the sheet of polymeric material with an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth and the sheetof polymeric material 10 having an appearance and/or texture simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth can be wrapped about at least aportion of a floral grouping or a flower pot, as described herein.Generally, the sheet of polymeric material 10 will have a thickness in arange of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, and more desirably athickness in a range of from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil.

The terms “polymer film”, “polymeric film” and “polymeric material” whenused herein means a synthetic polymer such as a polypropylene or apolyethylene, a naturally occurring polymer such as cellophane, anextruded polymeric material having an expanded core such as extrudedpolypropylene having an expanded core and combinations thereof. Theextruded polymeric material having an expanded core may also be referredto herein as an expanded core polymeric material.

“Extruded polymeric material having an expanded core” or “expanded corepolymeric film” as used herein means any extrudable polymeric materialor polymeric film in which the core is expanded during extrusion, suchas by incorporation of a blowing agent in the polymeric resin which isbeing extruded.

The sheet of polymeric material 10 may also be constructed, in whole orin part, from a cling material. “Cling material” when used herein meansany material which is capable of connecting to the sheet of materialand/or itself upon contacting engagement during the wrapping process andis wrappable about an item whereby portions of the cling materialcontactingly engage and connect to other portions of another material,or, alternatively, itself, for generally securing the material wrappedabout at least a portion of a flower pot. This connecting engagement ispreferably temporary in that the material may be easily removed, i.e.,the cling material “clings” to the flower pot.

The cling material is constructed, and treated if necessary, frompolyethylene such as Cling Wrap made by Glad®, First Brands Corporation,Danbury, Conn. The thickness of the cling material will, in part, dependupon the size of sleeve and the size of the flower pot in the sleeve,i.e., generally, a larger flower pot may require a thicker and thereforestronger cling material. The cling material will range in thickness fromabout 0.1 mil to about 10 mil, and more desirably from about 0.5 mil toabout 2.5 mil. However, any thickness of cling material may be utilizedin accordance with the present invention which permits the clingmaterial to be modified as hereinbefore described to provide the clingmaterial with an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearanceand/or texture of cloth.

A decorative cover for a floral grouping (FIGS. 3 through 6), or adecorative cover for a flower pot (FIG. 7), or a preformed flower potcover for covering a flower pot (FIGS. 10 and 11), or a sleeve forwrapping or covering a floral grouping (FIGS. 13 through 16) or a flowerpot (FIGS. 17 through 19), or a ribbon material having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth (FIG.20A through 20C), or decorative grass (FIGS. 21 through 22B) may also beconstructed of a laminated material (FIG. 9B). The laminated materialhaving at least one surface thereof modified to provide the laminatedmaterial with an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearanceand/or texture of cloth can be produced by laminating two or more sheetsof polymeric film (such as two or more sheets of polypropylene film or asheet of polypropylene film and a sheet of expanded core polymeric film,such as expanded core polypropylene film), or by laminating a polymericfilm (such as polypropylene film or an expanded core polymeric film) topaper, metallized foil and the like wherein at least one surface of thelaminated material is textured or modified to assimilate the weave ortexture of cloth. The only requirements in using a laminated materialhaving an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth to form a decorative cover for a floral grouping, or adecorative cover for a flower pot, or a preformed flower pot cover forcovering a flower pot, or a sleeve for wrapping or covering a floralgrouping or a flower pot, or as ribbon material or decorative grass inaccordance with the present invention is that at least one surface ofthe laminated material be capable of being modified to provide thelaminated material with at least one surface having an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth and that thelaminated material be sufficiently flexible or pliable to permit thelaminated material to be formed into a decorative cover for a floralgrouping, or a decorative cover for a flower pot, or a preformed flowerpot cover for covering a flower pot, or a sleeve for wrapping orcovering a floral grouping or a flower pot, or to be used as ribbonmaterial or decorative grass. It should also be noted that two or moreseparate sheets of material can be used to form a decorative cover for afloral grouping, or a decorative cover for a flower pot, or a preformedflower pot cover for covering a flower pot, or a sleeve for wrapping orcovering a floral grouping or a flower pot as long as one of the sheetsof material is modified or textured to provide same with an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth.

The sheet of polymeric material 10 or a laminated material (FIG. 9B)having an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth may vary in color. Further, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 or a laminated material may comprise other decorativepatterns or designs in addition to the matting, texturing, flocking,application of foamable lacquers or foamable inks, or embossing employedto impart the appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth to the sheet of polymeric material 10 or the laminatedmaterial.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the sheet of polymeric material 10 has a width30 extending generally between the first side 20 and the second side 22,respectively, sufficiently sized whereby the sheet of polymeric material10 can be wrapped about and encompass a floral grouping or a flower pot.The sheet of polymeric material 10 has a length 32 extending generallybetween the third side 24 and the fourth side 26, respectively,sufficiently sized whereby the sheet of polymeric material 10 extendsover a substantial portion of the floral grouping when the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 has been wrapped about the floral grouping inaccordance with the present invention, as described in detail herein.The sheet of polymeric material 10 may also be wrapped about a flowerpot to substantially wrap and cover the flower pot in accordance withthe present invention.

A plurality of sheets of polymeric material 10 having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth may beconnected together to form a roll as is shown in U.S. Pat. No.5,459,976, issued to Weder et al. on Oct. 24, 1995, entitled “MATERIALAND ADHESIVE STRIP DISPENSER”, the specification of which is herebyexpressly incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.

FIGS. 3-5 illustrate the use of the sheet of polymeric material 10having an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth in wrapping a floral grouping 34 to provide adecorative cover 36 (FIG. 5) for the floral grouping 34, wherein thedecorative cover 36 has an open upper end 38 and a lower end 40. Thesheet of polymeric material 10 may optionally have the strip of bondingmaterial 27 disposed upon the upper surface 14, the lower surface 16 orboth, such as the strip of bonding material 27 disposed along at least aportion of the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 soas to be disposed substantially adjacent the fourth side 26 thereofsubstantially as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Further, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth can be provided either as anindividual sheet or from a pad or roll of material.

The bonding material 27, if present, may have a backing or release strip(not shown). The backing or release strip may be left applied for aperiod of time to the bonding material 27 after it is disposed on asurface of the sheet of polymeric material 10 prior to its use as awrapping material to protect the bonding qualities of the bonding strip.

In operation, an operator may dispose the sheet of polymeric material 10having an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth on a support surface (not shown) such that the lowersurface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 (which has beenmodified to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth) is in contact with the support surface.

Referring more specifically to FIGS. 3-5, the floral grouping 34 isplaced upon the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10in a diagonal orientation. The floral grouping 34 has an upper bloom orfoliage portion 42 and a lower stem portion 44. The sheet of polymericmaterial 10 is then wrapped about the floral grouping 34 by the operator(FIGS. 4 and 5), the operator overlapping a portion of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 over another portion of the sheet of polymericmaterial 10. That is, for example, the operator places the first side 20of the sheet of polymeric material 10 over the floral grouping 34, asshown in FIG. 4. The operator continues to roll the floral grouping 34and the sheet of polymeric material 10 in the direction toward thesecond side 22 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 until the uppersurface 14 near second side 22 firmly engages the lower surface 16 ofthe sheet of polymeric material 10, wherein the floral grouping 34 issubstantially encompassed by the sheet of polymeric material 10, andwherein the bonding material 27 contacts the sheet of polymeric material10 to provide the decorative cover 36 having an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth whichsubstantially encompasses and surrounds a substantial portion of thefloral grouping 34. FIG. 5 shows the floral grouping 34 wrapped in aconical fashion to provide the decorative cover 36 for the floralgrouping 34 which has the appearance of being made of a cloth material.When the floral grouping 34 is wrapped in a conical fashion, the bloomportion 42 of the floral grouping 34 is exposed near the open upper end38 of the decorative cover 36, and the stem portion 44 of the floralgrouping 34 is exposed near the lower end 40 of the decorative cover 36.

In another embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 6, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 having at least one surface thereof modified to provide thesheet of polymeric material 10 with an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth is utilized to wrapthe floral grouping 34 in a cylindrical fashion. The floral grouping 34is disposed upon the sheet of polymeric material 10 approximatelyparallel to the third side 24 of the sheet of polymeric material 10. Thesheet of polymeric material 10 is wrapped generally about the stemportion 44 of the floral grouping 34 to a position wherein the thirdside 24 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 generally overlaps thefourth side 26 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 in a cylindricalfashion. It should be noted that the sheet of polymeric material 10 maybe wrapped a plurality of times about the stem portion 44 of the floralgrouping 34 before the overlapping of the third side 24 and the fourthside 26 of the sheet of polymeric material 10. As before, the portion ofthe sheet of polymeric material 10 near the third side 24 is disposedgenerally adjacent another portion of the sheet of polymeric material 10and the two adjacent portions then are brought into contact where theymay be bondingly engaged, thereby securing the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 generally about the floral grouping 34 so as to provide adecorative cover 36a for the floral grouping 34 which has the appearanceof being fabricated of cloth.

In another version of the invention, the sheet of polymeric material 10having at least one surface thereof modified so as to provide the sheetof polymeric material 10 with an appearance and/or texture simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth may be used to wrap a flower potor pot-type container, as noted above. Shown in FIG. 7 is a flower potdesignated by the reference numeral 50 having an open upper end 52, abottom end 54, an outer peripheral surface 56, and an inner retainingspace 58 within which may be disposed a growing medium. The flower pot50 may contain a botanical item, such as a plant 60, which has an upperportion 62 comprising blooms or foliage or both.

The sheet of polymeric material 10 having an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth may be wrapped aboutthe flower pot 50 by any one of numerous methods used to wrap sheets ofmaterial about flower pots to form decorative pot covers for flowerpots, such as a decorative cover 61 having an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth disposed about theflower pot 50 illustrated in FIG. 7. The sheet of polymeric material 10may, for example, be formed by hand about the outer peripheral surface56 of the flower pot 50 to produce the decorative cover 61 which has theappearance of being fabricated of cloth. The decorative cover 61 canthen be secured about the flower pot 50 by a bonding material or by anelastic band 64 such that the open upper end 52 of the flower pot 50remains substantially uncovered by the decorative cover 61 substantiallyas shown in FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flower pot cover former and band applicatorapparatus 66 for forming the sheet of polymeric material 10 having anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth into the decorative cover 61 for the flower pot 50 of FIG. 7 isillustrated. The flower pot cover former and band applicator apparatus66 comprises a band applicator 68 and a flower pot cover former 70. Theflower pot cover former and band applicator apparatus 66 has a supportplatform 72 with an opening 74 formed therein. A band, such as elasticband 64, is disposed circumferentially about the opening 74 in thesupport platform 72.

The lower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 (which hasbeen modified to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with atextured or matted surface simulating cloth) is positioned on an uppersurface 76 on the support platform 72 such that the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 is positioned over the opening 74 in the support platform72. The flower pot 50 is positioned above the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 and is moved in a direction 78 into the opening 74 of theflower pot cover former and band applicator apparatus 66. As the flowerpot 50 is moved into the opening 74, the sheet of polymeric material 10is pressed about the outer peripheral surface 56 of the flower pot 50thereby forming the decorative cover 61 about the flower pot 50. Thedecorative cover 61 (which has an appearance and/or texture simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth) is then secured about the flowerpot 50 by the elastic band 64. The flower pot 50 having the decorativecover 61 secured thereto is then moved in a direction 80 out of theopening 74 in the support platform 72.

The elastic band 64 can be applied manually or automatically such as bythe method shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,599, entitled “MEANS FORSECURING A DECORATIVE COVER ABOUT A FLOWER POT”, issued to Weder on Apr.21, 1992, which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.The band 64 can also be applied as a tie using a method such asdescribed in “Single Station Covering and Fastening System”, U.S. Pat.No. 5,609,009, issued to Weder et al on Mar. 11, 1997, the specificationof which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. The sheetof polymeric material 10 having an appearance and/or texture simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth can also be applied automaticallyabout the flower pot 50, for example, by methods shown in U.S. Pat. No.4,733,521, entitled “COVER FORMING APPARATUS”, issued to Weder et al. onMar. 29, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,721, entitled “COVER FORMINGAPPARATUS HAVING PIVOTING FORMING MEMBERS”, issued to Weder et al. onMar. 8, 1994, both of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

Instead of securing the decorative cover 61 about the flower pot 50 viathe band 64, the decorative cover 61 formed from the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth may be secured to the flower pot 50by the use of one or more bonding materials. For example, the uppersurface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 may have a bondingmaterial such as the bonding material 27 disposed upon a portionthereof. When the sheet of polymeric material 10 is disposed about theflower pot 50, at least a portion of the upper surface 14 of the sheetof polymeric material 10 contacts the outer peripheral surface 56 of theflower pot 50 and is thereby bonded and held about the flower pot 50 viathe bonding material.

The bonding material may cover a portion of the upper surface 14 of thesheet of polymeric material 10, or the bonding material may entirelycover the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10. Thebonding material may be disposed on the upper surface 14 of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 in the form of a strip or in the form ofspaced-apart spots. One method for disposing a bonding material on thesheet of polymeric material 10 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,637,entitled “Method For Wrapping A Floral Grouping”, issued to Weder, etal. on May 12, 1992, which is expressly incorporated herein byreference.

The term “bonding material” when used herein can mean an adhesive,frequently a pressure sensitive adhesive, or a cohesive or anyadhesive/cohesive combination having adhesive qualities (i.e., qualitiesof adhesion or adhesion/cohesion, respectively) sufficient to cause theattachment of a portion of the sheet of polymeric material 10 to itself,to a floral grouping 34, or to a flower pot 50. Since the bondingmaterial may comprise either an adhesive or an adhesive/cohesivecombination, it will be appreciated that both adhesives and cohesivesare known in the art, and both are commercially available. When thebonding material is a cohesive, a similar cohesive material must beplaced on the adjacent surface for bondingly contacting and bondinglyengaging with the cohesive material. The term “bonding material alsoincludes materials which are heat sealable and, in this instance, theadjacent portions of the material must be brought into contact and thenheat must be applied to effect the seal. The term “bonding material alsoincludes materials which are sonically sealable and vibratory sealable.The term “bonding material when used herein also means a heat sealinglacquer or hot melt material which may be applied to the material and,in this instance, heat, sound waves, or vibrations, also must be appliedto effect the sealing.

The term “bonding material when used herein also means any type ofmaterial or thing which can be used to effect the bonding or connectingof the two adjacent portions of the sheet of polymeric material 10 toeffect the connection or bonding described herein. The term “bondingmaterial” may also include ties, labels, bands, ribbons, strings, tapes(including single or double-sided adhesive tapes), staples orcombinations thereof. Some of the bonding materials would secure theends of the material while other bonding materials may bind thecircumference of a cover, or a sleeve, or, alternatively and/or inaddition, the bonding materials would secure overlapping folds in thematerial and/or sleeve. Another way to secure the cover and/or sleeve isto heat seal the ends of the material to another portion of thematerial. One way to do this is to contact the ends with an iron ofsufficient heat to heat seal the material.

Alternatively, a cold seal adhesive may be utilized as the bondingmaterial. The cold seal adhesive adheres only to a similar substrate,acting similarly as a cohesive, and binds only to itself. The cold sealadhesive, since it bonds only to a similar substrate, does not cause aresidue to build up on equipment, thereby both permitting much morerapid disposition and use of such equipment to form articles andreducing labor costs. Further, since no heat is required to effect theseal, the dwell time, that is, the time for the sheet of material toform and retain the shape of an article, such as a flower pot cover orflower pot, is reduced. A cold seal adhesive binds quickly and easilywith minimal pressure, and such a seal is not readily releasable. Thischaracteristic is different from, for example, a pressure sensitiveadhesive.

The term “bonding material” when used herein also means any heat orchemically shrinkable material, and static electrical or otherelectrical materials, chemical welding materials, magnetic materials,mechanical or barb-type fastening materials or clamps, curl-typecharacteristics of the film or materials incorporated in material whichcan cause the material to take on certain shapes, cling films, slots,grooves, shrinkable materials and bands, curl materials, springs, andany type of welding method which may weld portions of the material toitself or to the pot, or to both the material itself and the pot.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGS. 9-12

Referring now to FIGS. 9 through 11, a decorative preformed flower potcover 110 illustrated in FIGS. 10-11 is constructed from a sheet offlexible material 112 having at least one surface thereof modified so asto provide the sheet of flexible material 112 with an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth (FIG. 9A) or alaminated sheet of flexible material 112 a having at least one surfacethereof modified so as to provide the laminated sheet of flexiblematerial 112 a with an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth (FIG. 9B). In the embodiment shown inFIG. 9A, the sheet of flexible material 112 used in the construction ofthe decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 comprises a sheet ofexpanded core polymeric film 114 having an upper surface 116, a lowersurface 118 and a thickness in the range of from about 0.5 mil to about10 mil, more desirably in the range of from about 0.6 mil to about 1.25mil, and a coating of an acrylic heat sealable lacquer 120 disposed onat least one of the upper and lower surfaces 116 and 118, respectively,of the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114. It should beunderstood, however, that the sheet of flexible material 112 is notlimited to being the expanded core polymeric film 114 having anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth; rather, the sheet of flexible material 112 can be any flexiblepolymeric material (such as the sheet of polymeric material 10 hereinbefore described) or flexible laminated material (such as will bedescribed herein after with reference to FIG. 9B) which can be modifiedor textured so that at least one surface of such polymeric material orlaminated material is provided with a finish or texture simulatingcloth.

As previously stated, the modification of at least one surface of thesheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 to provide the sheet offlexible material 112 with the desired matte or textured finish can beaccomplished by printing a desired pattern on the sheet of expanded corepolymeric film 114 and thereafter laminating a matte material, such as atranslucent polymeric film, over the printed pattern. To further enhancethe appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or textureof cloth, the matte material may or may not have a plurality ofspatially disposed holes extending therethrough. A matte or texturedfinish simulating the appearance of cloth can also be produced byprinting a sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 with a matted (i.e.dull finish) ink, by lacquering at least one surface of the sheet ofexpanded core polymeric film 114 with a dull finish lacquer or a mattinglacquer, by embossing the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 toprovide an embossed pattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth, orby embossing and printing the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114to provide embossed and printed patterns wherein the embossed andprinted patterns may be in registry, out of registry, or wherein aportion of the embossed and printed patterns are in registry and aportion of the embossed and printed patterns are out of registry. Inaddition, a matte or textured finish capable a providing the sheet ofexpanded core polymeric film 114 with an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can be achieved byextruding a polymeric resin onto a matted or textured chill roll toproduce the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 or by laminating asecond sheet of material to the sheet of expanded core polymeric film114.

When the sheet of flexible material 112 is formed into the decorativepreformed flower pot cover 110, a plurality of overlapping folds 122 areformed and at least a portion of the overlapping folds 122 are connectedto adjacently disposed portions of the preformed flower pot cover 110via the acrylic heat sealable lacquer 120.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the decorative preformed pot cover 110 hasan upper end 125, a lower end 126, and an outer peripheral surface 128.An opening 130 intersects the upper end 125, forming an inner peripheralsurface 132 which defines and encompasses a retaining space 133 withinwhich a flower pot 134 containing a floral grouping 136 may be disposedin a manner well known in the art.

In another embodiment, a sheet of flexible laminated material 112 a(FIG. 9B) is used in the construction of the decorative preformed flowerpot cover 110. The sheet of flexible laminated material 112 a comprisesa first sheet of material 114 a having an upper surface 116 a and alower surface 118 a, and a second sheet of material 120 a. At least onesurface of the first sheet of material 114 a or the second sheet ofmaterial 120 a is modified to provide the sheet of flexible laminatedmaterial 112 a with the desired appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth. The sheet of flexible laminatedmaterial 112 a having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth can be produced by laminating two ormore sheets of polymeric film (such as two or more sheets ofpolypropylene film or a sheet of polypropylene film and a sheet ofexpanded core polymeric film, such as expanded core polypropylene film),or by laminating a polymeric film (such as polypropylene film or anexpanded core polymeric film) with a sheet of paper, metallized foil,polymeric film, or combinations or laminates thereof, such as apaper/polymeric film laminate, wherein at least one surface of thelaminated material is textured or modified to assimilate the weave ortexture of cloth. It should be understood, however, that the decorativepreformed flower pot cover 110 can also be formed from a laminated sheetof flexible material 112 a wherein the first sheet of material 114 a isan expanded core polymeric film and the second sheet of material 120 ais a polymeric film, paper or metallized foil and neither of the firstand second sheets of material 114 a and 120 a, respectively, is modifiedto provide the laminated sheet of flexible material 112 a with anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth.

The first sheet of material 114 a desirably has a thickness in a rangeof from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil, and more desirably from about 0.6mil to about 1.25 mil, and the second sheet of material 120 desirablyhas a thickness in a range of from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil, andmore desirably from about 0.6 mil to about 1.25 mil. The second sheet ormaterial 120 a is desirably laminated to the first sheet of material 114a with a colored adhesive so as to impart a desired color to thelaminated sheet of flexible material 112 a. While the thickness of thesheet of flexible material 112 a can vary widely and will generallydepend on the thickness of the first sheet of material 114 a and thethickness of the second sheet of material 120 a, desirable results canbe obtained where the sheet of flexible material 112 a has a thicknessin the range of from about 1 mil to about 20 mil, and more desirablyfrom about 1.2 mil to about 2.5 mil.

As previously stated, the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 maybe constructed from the sheet of polymeric material 10 (FIG. 1), or thesheet of flexible material 112 (FIG. 9A), or the sheet of flexiblelaminated material 112 a (FIG. 9B). The preformed flower pot cover 110so formed will have a plurality of overlapping folds 122 formed therein,at least a portion thereof being connected. If desired, the decorativepreformed flower pot cover 110 can be formed of a plurality of sheets ofthe same and/or different types of material. The method and apparatusemployed to form the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 issubstantially identical whether one uses one or more sheets of thepolymeric material 10 (FIG. 1), one or more sheets of the flexiblematerial 112 (FIG. 9A), or one or more sheets of the flexible laminatedmaterial 112 a (FIG. 9B) or a combination of such sheets of material.Thus, only the formation of the decorative preformed flower pot cover110 using a sheet of the flexible material 112 of FIG. 9A will bedescribed in detail hereinafter.

The decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 may be formed using aconventional mold system 140 comprising a male mold 142 and a femalemold 144 having a mold cavity 146 for matingly receiving the male mold142 (FIG. 12). The sheet of flexible material 112 is positioned betweenthe male and female molds 142 and 144, respectively. Movement of themale mold 142 in the direction 148 and into the mold cavity 146 forcesthe sheet of flexible material 112 to be disposed about the portion ofthe male mold 142 disposed in the mold cavity 146 of the female mold 146and thereby forms the sheet of material 112 into the preformeddecorative flower pot cover 110 (FIGS. 10 and 11). Further, inaccordance with the present invention, the decorative preformed flowerpot cover 110 constructed from the materials described herein above, mayhave a bonding material disposed upon a portion thereof.

Methods for forming such preformed decorative pot covers are well knownin the art. Two methods of forming such covers are described in U.S.Pat. No. 4,773,182, entitled “ARTICLE FORMING SYSTEM”, issued to Wederet al. on Sep. 27, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,721, entitled “COVERFORMING APPARATUS HAVING PIVOTING FORMING MEMBERS”, issued to Weder etal. on Mar. 8, 1994, each of which is expressly incorporated herein byreference.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGS. 13-19

Shown in FIG. 13 is a decorative cover designated therein by the generalreference numeral 160 which comprises a flexible bag or sleeve 162 ofunitary construction having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth in accordance with the presentinvention. The sleeve 162 may be used as a decorative cover 160 for afloral grouping or a flower pot. The sleeve 162 initially comprises aflexible flat collapsed piece of material which is openable in the formof a tube or sleeve. Such sleeves are well known in the floral industry.Further, in accordance with the present invention, the decorative cover160 can be constructed of the polymeric material 10 (FIG. 1), theflexible material 112 (FIG. 9A), or the flexible laminated material 112a (FIG. 9B), whereby at least a portion of one surface, preferably anouter peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162, has been modified toprovide the sleeve 162 with an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth as previously described herein. Thesleeve 162 has an upper end 166, a lower end 168 and the outerperipheral surface 164. The sleeve 162 may be tapered outwardly from thelower end 168 toward a larger diameter at its upper end 166. In itsflattened state the sleeve 162 generally has an overall trapezoidal ormodified trapezoidal shape, and when opened is substantiallyfrusto-conical to coniform. It will be appreciated, however, that thesleeve 162 may comprise variations on the aforementioned shapes or maycomprise significantly altered shapes such as square or rectangular,wherein the sleeve 162 when opened has a cylindrical form, as long asthe sleeve 162 functions in accordance with the present invention in themanner described herein. The sleeve 162 (or any other sleeve disclosedherein) may have an angular or contoured shape.

The sleeve 162 has an opening 170 at the upper end 166 and may be openat the lower end 168, or closed with a bottom at the lower end 168. Thesleeve 162 also has an inner peripheral surface 172 which, when thesleeve 162 is opened, defines and encompasses an inner retaining space174. When the lower end 168 of the sleeve 162 has a closed lower end168, a portion of the lower end 168 may be inwardly folded to form oneor more gussets (not shown) for allowing the lower portion of the innerretaining space 174 to be expandable, for example, for receiving thecircular bottom of a pot or growing medium.

The sleeve 162 is generally frusto-conically shaped, but the sleeve 162may be, by way of example but not by way of limitation, cylindrical,frusto-conical, a combination of both frusto-conical and cylindrical, orany other shape, as long as the sleeve 162 functions as described hereinas noted above. Further, the sleeve 162 may comprise any shape, whethergeometric, non-geometric, asymmetrical and/or fanciful as long as itfunctions in accordance with the present invention. The sleeve 162 mayalso be equipped with drain holes (if having a closed bottom) or sideventilation holes (not shown), or can be made from gas permeable orimpermeable materials.

The material from which the sleeve 162 is constructed is the same aspreviously described above for the sheet of polymeric material 10 havingat least one surface thereof modified so as to provide the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 with an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth, or the sheet of flexible material112 or 112 a. Any thickness of material may be utilized in accordancewith the present invention as long as the sleeve 162 may be formed asdescribed herein, is provided with an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth, and as long as theformed sleeve 162 may contain at least a portion of a flower pot or afloral grouping, as described herein. Additionally, an insulatingmaterial such as bubble film, preferable as one of two or more layers,can be utilized in order to provide additional protection for the item,such as a floral grouping, contained therein.

In FIG. 14 the sleeve 162 is illustrated having an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth provided onthe outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162. A floral grouping176 is disposed within the inner retaining space 174 of the sleeve 162.Generally, an upper or bloom portion 178 of the floral grouping 176 isexposed near the opening 170 of the sleeve 162 and a lower or stemportion 180 of the floral grouping 176 is exposed near the lower end 168of the sleeve 162. Either end of the sleeve 162 may be closed about thefloral grouping 176. Generally, a portion of the sleeve 162 is tightenedabout a portion of the stem portion 180 of the floral grouping 176 forholding the decorative cover 160 about the floral grouping 176. Forexample, the sleeve 162 may be held by a tie 182 tied about the sleeve162 such as is shown in FIG. 14. Other methods for binding the sleeve162 may be employed such as the bonding methods and materials describedelsewhere herein. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, a decorative cover160 a is shown which comprises a sleeve 162 a having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth and acinching tab 184 having a bonding material 186 disposed upon a surfacethereof. The cinching tab 184 can be used to gather portions of thesleeve 162 a together about the stem portion 180 of the floral grouping176 as shown in FIG. 16 for holding the sleeve 162 a tightly about thefloral grouping 176.

Similarly, it may generally be desired to use the sleeve 162 as adecorative cover for a flower pot (not shown). The flower pot willgenerally contain a botanical item or plant. The flower pot can bedeposited into the open sleeve 162 in a manner well known in the art,such as manually wherein the sleeve 162 is opened by hand and the flowerpot deposited therein.

As noted above, a bonding material may be disposed on a portion of thesleeve 162 or any sleeve described herein to assist in holding thesleeve 162 to the flower pot when the flower pot is disposed within thesleeve 162 or to assist in closing the upper end 166 of the sleeve 162or adhering the sleeve 162 to the flower pot after the flower pot hasbeen disposed therein, as will be discussed in further detail below.

It will be understood that the bonding material, if present, may bedisposed as a strip or block on a surface of the sleeve 162. The bondingmaterial may also be disposed upon either the outer peripheral surface164 or the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162, as well asupon the flower pot. Further, the bonding material may be disposed asspots of bonding material, or in any other geometric, non-geometric,asymmetric, or fanciful form, and in any pattern, including coveringeither the entire inner peripheral surface 172 and/or outer peripheralsurface 164 of the sleeve 162 and/or the flower pot. The bondingmaterial may be covered by a cover or release strip which can be removedprior to the use of the sleeve 162 or flower pot. The bonding materialcan be applied by methods known to those of ordinary skill in their art.One method for disposing a bonding material, in this case an adhesive,is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,637, entitled “METHOD FOR WRAPPING AFLORAL GROUPING”, issued to Weder et al. on May 12, 1993, thespecification of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

As noted above, a bonding material may be disposed on at least a portionof the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162 (or any othersleeve described herein), or, alternatively, the bonding material may bedisposed on the outer peripheral surface of a flower pot containedwithin the sleeve 162, while the sleeve 162 may be free of the bondingmaterial. In a further alternative, the bonding material may be disposedboth on at least a portion of the flower pot as well as upon at least aportion of the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162. Inaddition, a portion of the bonding material may also be disposed on theouter peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162 as well. It will beunderstood that the bonding material may be disposed in a solid sectionof bonding material. The bonding material, when present, is disposed onthe sleeve 162 and/or flower pot by any method known in the art.

Certain versions of sleeves described herein may be used in combinationwith a preformed pot cover. For example, a preformed pot cover may beapplied to the pot, then the covered pot wrapped or disposed within asleeve. Either the cover or the sleeve, or both, may have an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth.Examples of sleeves which may be used in this invention are shown in thespecification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,979, entitled “SLEEVE HAVING ADETACHABLE PORTION FORMING A SKIRT AND METHODS”, issued to Weder on May6, 1997, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. Equipment and devices for forming sleeves are commerciallyavailable, and well known in the art.

Shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 is another embodiment of a decorative cover 160b comprising a sleeve having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth constructed from the polymericmaterial 10 having at least one surface thereof modified so as toprovide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth, or theflexible material 112 or 112 a in accordance with the present inventionand designated by the general reference numeral 162 b. The sleeve 162 bhas a “detaching” element in predetermined areas for detaching a portionof the sleeve 162 b. The sleeve 162 b generally initially comprises aflexible flat collapsed piece of material which is openable in the formof a tube or sleeve. The sleeve 162 b is constructed of the samematerial and in the same way as described previously herein and may bedescribed exactly the same as the other sleeves described herein exceptfor the additional elements described hereinafter.

The sleeve 162 b has an upper end 166 b, a lower end 168 b, and an outerperipheral surface 164 b. The sleeve 162 b has an opening 170 b at theupper end 166 b thereof, and the sleeve 162 b may be open at the lowerend 168 b or closed with a bottom at the lower end 168 b. In a flattenedstate, the sleeve 162 b has a first side 171 and a second side 173. Thesleeve 162 b also has an inner peripheral surface 172 b which, when thesleeve 162 b is opened, defines and encompasses an inner retaining space174 b as shown in FIG. 18. When the lower end 168 b of the sleeve 162 bhas a closed bottom, a portion of the lower end 168 b may be inwardlyfolded to form one or more gussets (not shown) for permitting a circularbottom of an object such as a potted plant 176 b to be disposed in theinner retaining space 174 b of the lower end 168 b of the sleeve 162 b.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the sleeve 162 b is demarcated into anupper portion 188 and a lower portion 190. The lower portion 190 of thesleeve 162 b is generally sized to contain the flower pot 176 b. Theupper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b is sized to substantially surroundand encompass a plant 192 contained in the flower pot 176 b disposedwithin the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b. The sleeve 162 b isdemarcated into the upper portion 188 and the lower portion 190 by adetaching element 194 for enabling the detachment of the upper portion188 of the sleeve 162 b from the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b.In the present version, the detaching element 194 is a plurality ofgenerally laterally-oriented or alternating diagonally-orientedperforations which extend circumferentially across the outer peripheralsurface 164 b of the sleeve 162 b from the first side 171 to the secondside 173.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the lower portion 190 of thesleeve 162 b further comprises a base portion 196 and a skirt portion198. The base portion 196 comprises that part of the lower portion 190which, when the flower pot 176 b is placed into the lower portion 190,has an inner peripheral surface 172 b which is substantially adjacent toand surrounds an outer peripheral surface 199 of the flower pot 176 b.The skirt portion 198 comprises that part of the lower portion 190 whichextends beyond an open upper end 201 of the flower pot 176 b andadjacent at least a portion of the plant 192 contained within the flowerpot 176 b and which is left to freely extend at an angle, inwardly oroutwardly, from the base portion 196 when the upper portion 188 of thesleeve 162 b is detached from the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 bby actuation of the detaching element 194.

In the intact sleeve 162 b, the skirt portion 198 comprises an upperperipheral edge congruent with the detaching element 194 which isconnected to a lower peripheral edge, also congruent with the detachingelement 194, of the upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b. In FIGS. 17and 18, the upper peripheral edge of the skirt portion 198 is congruentwith a series of alternating diagonally-oriented lines of perforationswhich together form a zig-zag and comprise the detaching element 194.The upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b may also have an additionaldetaching element 200 indicated as a plurality of vertical perforationsfor facilitating removal of the upper portion 188 and which are disposedmore or less vertically therein extending between the detaching element194 of the sleeve 162 b and the upper end 166 b.

The upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b is thereby separable from thelower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b by tearing the upper portion 188along both the detaching element 200 and the detaching element 194,thereby separating the upper portion 188 from the lower portion 190 ofthe sleeve 162 b. The lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b remainsdisposed as the base portion 196 about the flower pot 176 b and as theskirt portion 198 about the plant 192 forming a decorative cover 202 asshown in FIG. 19 which substantially surrounds and encompasses theflower pot 176 b and the plant 192 contained therein. An outerperipheral surface 164 b of the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b,for example, the base and skirt portions 196 and 198, may be modified toprovide the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b with an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth, whilethe upper portion 188 is left unmodified or is printed with a design.When the upper portion 188 is detached, the lower portion 190 of thesleeve 162 b remains about the flower pot 176 b and thereby forms adecorative cover 202 about the flower pot 176 b which has the appearanceof a decorative cloth cover.

“Detaching element” as used herein, means any element, or combination ofelements, or features, such as, but not by way of limitation,perforations, tear strips, zippers, and any other devices or elements ofthis nature known in the art, or any combination thereof. Therefore,while perforations are shown and described in detail herein, it will beunderstood that tear strips, zippers, or any other “detaching elements”known in the art, or any combination thereof, could be substitutedtherefor and/or used therewith.

In a general method of use of sleeve 162 b as a decorative cover for aflower pot, an operator provides a sleeve 162 b, and the flower pot 176b having a plant 192 disposed in a growing medium contained within theflower pot 176 b. The operator then disposes the flower pot 176 b havingthe plant 192 contained therein into the sleeve 162 b by opening thesleeve 162 b at its upper end 166 b and assuring both that the opening170 b therein is in an open condition, and that the inner peripheralsurface 172 b of the sleeve 162 b is somewhat expanded outward as well,as shown in FIG. 18. The operator then manually or automaticallydisposes the flower pot 176 b into the opening 170 b in the sleeve 162b, the flower pot 176 b being disposed generally through the upperportion 188 of the sleeve 162 b into generally the lower portion 190 ofthe sleeve 162 b, the flower pot 176 b remaining in the lower portion190 of the sleeve 162 b, permitting the sleeve 162 b to substantiallysurround and tightly encompass the flower pot 176 b. It will beunderstood that alternatively, the sleeve 162 b may be provided with anextension (not shown) and the sleeve 162 b may be disposed on rods orwickets, and the flower pot 176 b may be disposed in the sleeve 162 beither before or after the sleeve 162 b has been removed from thewickets.

Embodiments of FIGS. 20A-20C

Referring now to FIG. 20A, designated generally by the reference numeral210 is a polymeric ribbon material having at least one surface thereofmodified so as to provide the polymeric ribbon 210 with an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth forforming decorative bows and for wrapping items. That is, at least onesurface of a web of polymeric material (not shown) is modified toprovide a matte or textured finish 212 simulating the appearance ofcloth. The modification of the web of polymeric material (not shown) toprovide the polymeric ribbon material 210 with a matte or texturedfinish 212 can be accomplished in several ways. For example, thepolymeric ribbon material 210 having the matte or textured finish 212can be produced by printing a web of polymeric material with a matted(i.e. dull finish) ink, by lacquering at least one surface of the sheetof polymeric material with a dull finish lacquer or a matting lacquer,by embossing the sheet of polymeric material to provide an embossedpattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth, or by flocking thesheet of polymeric material, or by application of a foamable lacquer orfoamable ink to the sheet of polymeric material, or by embossing andprinting the sheet of polymeric material to provide embossed and printedpatterns wherein the embossed and printed patterns may be in registry,out of registry or wherein a portion of the embossed and printedpatterns are in registry and a portion of the embossed and printedpatterns are out of registry. In addition, a matte or textured finish212 capable of providing the sheet of polymeric material 210 with anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth can be achieved by extruding a polymeric resin onto a matted ortextured chill roll. Thereafter, the web of material having anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth can be cut in a conventional manner to provide the polymericribbon material 210 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth.

Any polymeric material capable of being textured or otherwise modifiedto provide the polymeric material with an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can be employed in theformulation of the polymeric ribbon material 210. For example, thepolymeric material employed to produce the polymeric ribbon material 210can be the polymeric material 10 (FIG. 1), i.e. a polypropylene filmhaving a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, andmore desirably of from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil, or the sheet offlexible material 112, i.e., an expanded core polymeric film having athickness in a range of from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil.

Referring now to FIG. 20B, designated generally by the reference numeral220 is another embodiment of a polymeric ribbon material for formingdecorative bows and for wrapping items. The polymeric ribbon material220 is a laminated material comprising a first web or sheet of material222 having a thickness of from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil, and moredesirably from about 0.6 mil to about 1.25 mil, and a second web orsheet of material 224 having a thickness in a range of from about 0.5mil to about 10 mil, and more desirably from about 0.6 mil to about 1.25mil. The laminated material having an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can be produced bylaminating two or more sheets of polymeric film (such as two or moresheets of polypropylene film or a sheet of polypropylene film and asheet of expanded core polymeric film, such as expanded corepolypropylene film), or by laminating a polymeric film (such aspolypropylene film or an expanded core polymeric film) with a sheet ofpaper, metallized foil and the like wherein at least one surface of thelaminated material is textured or modified to assimilate the weave ortexture of cloth. The second web or sheet of material 224 is desirablylaminated to the first web or sheet of material 222 with a coloredadhesive so as to impart a desired color to the polymeric ribbonmaterial 220. If desired the polymeric ribbon material 220 may betreated or otherwise processed to provide the polymeric ribbon material220 with a matte or textured finish 226 simulating the weave or knit ofcloth so that the polymeric ribbon material 220 has a cloth likeappearance similar to the polymeric ribbon material 210 hereinbeforedescribed with reference to FIG. 20A. That is, a matte or texturedfinish 226 simulating cloth can be printed on the first web or sheet ofmaterial 222, and thereafter the second web or sheet of material 224(which in this case is desirably a matte material of translucentpolymeric film) is laminated to the first web or sheet of material 222to provide the polymeric ribbon material 220 with an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth. To furtherenhance the appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth of the polymeric ribbon material 220, the second web orsheet of material 224 may or may not have a plurality of spatiallydisposed holes extending therethrough. The matte or textured finish 226can be produced by printing at least one of the first and second webs orsheets of material 222 and 224 with a matted (i.e. dull finish) ink, bylacquering at least one surface of at least one of the first and secondwebs or sheets of material 222 and 224 with a dull finish lacquer or amatting lacquer, by flocking at least one of the first and second websor sheets of material 222 and 224, by application of a foamable lacqueror foamable ink to at least one of the first and second webs or sheetsof material 222 and 224, by embossing at least one of the first andsecond webs or sheets of material 222 and 224 to provide an embossedpattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth, or by embossing andprinting at least one of the first and second webs or sheets of material222 and 224 to provide embossed and printed patterns wherein theembossed and printed patterns may be in registry, out of registry orwherein a portion of the embossed and printed patterns are in registryand a portion of the embossed and printed patterns are out of registry.In addition, a matte or textured finish 226 capable of providing thepolymeric ribbon material 220 with an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can be achieved byextruding the resin used to produce one of the first and second webs orsheets of material 222 and 224 onto a matted or textured chill roll.

Referring now to FIG. 20C, designated generally by the reference numeral230 is another embodiment of a polymeric ribbon material for formingdecorative bows and for wrapping items. The polymeric ribbon material230 comprises a polymeric film 232 having an upper surface 234, a lowersurface 236 and a thickness in the range of from about 0.1 mil to about30 mil, and more desirably, from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil. Anacrylic heat sealable lacquer 238 is applied to at least one of theupper and lower surfaces 234 and 236 of the polymeric film 232, such asthe lower surface 236 of the polymeric film 232 and the upper surface234 of the polymeric film 232 are desirably modified to provide thepolymeric ribbon material 230 with a matte or textured finish 239simulating the appearance of cloth. The modification of the polymericfilm 232 to provide the polymeric ribbon material 230 with an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can beaccomplished in several ways. For example, the polymeric ribbon material230 having the matte or textured finish 239 can be produced by printinga web of polymeric material with a matted (i.e. dull finish) ink, bylacquering at least one of the upper surface 234 or the lower surface236 of the polymeric film 232 with a dull finish lacquer or a mattinglacquer, by flocking the polymeric film 232, by application of afoamable lacquer or foamable ink to the polymeric film 232, by embossingthe polymeric film 232 to provide an embossed pattern simulating theweave or texture of cloth, or by embossing and printing the polymericfilm 232 to provide embossed and printed patterns wherein the embossedand printed patterns may be in registry, out of registry or wherein aportion of the embossed and printed patterns are in registry and aportion of the embossed and printed patterns are out of registry. Inaddition, a matte or textured finish 239 capable of providing thepolymeric film 232 with an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth can be achieved by extruding apolymeric resin onto a matted or textured chill roll. Thereafter,polymeric film 232 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth can be cut in a conventional mannerto provide the polymeric ribbon material 230 having a cloth-appearingtextured or matte finish.

Any polymeric film capable of being textured or otherwise modified toprovide the polymeric material with an appearance and/or texturesimulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can be employed in theformulation of the polymeric ribbon material 230. For example, thepolymeric film 232 employed to produce the polymeric ribbon material 230can be polypropylene film having a thickness in a range of from about0.1 mil to about 30 mil, and more desirably in a range of from about 0.5mil to about 10 mil, or an expanded core polymeric film having athickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil.

Embodiments of FIGS. 21-22B

Referring now to FIG. 21, designated generally by the reference numeral240 is a system for producing decorative grass 242 having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth inaccordance with the present invention. That is, at least one surface ofa sheet or web of polymeric material is modified with a matte ortextured finish 246 to provide a web of polymeric material 244 having anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth (i.e. assimilates cloth in appearance) as hereinbefore described.Thus, the decorative grass 242 produced from the web of polymericmaterial 244 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth will also have a matte or texturedfinish 246 (FIGS. 22A) which provides the decorative grass 242 withappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth.

Any polymeric material capable of being textured or otherwise modifiedto provide the web of polymeric material 244 with an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can beemployed to produce the decorative grass 242 having an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth including thesheet of polymeric material 10 (FIG. 1), the sheet of flexible material112 (FIG. 9A), or the sheet of flexible laminated material 112 a (FIG.9B). For example, the polymeric material employed to produce the web ofpolymeric material 244 having an appearance and/or texture simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth can be polypropylene film havinga thickness in a range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, and moredesirably of from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil, or an expanded corepolymeric film having a thickness of from about 0.5 mil to about 10 mil,or laminates having a thickness of from about 1 mil to about 20 mil. Thelaminates which can be used to produce the web of polymeric material 244having an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth can be formed by laminating two or more webs ofpolymeric film (such as two or more webs of polypropylene film or a webof polypropylene film and a web of expanded core polymeric film, such asexpanded core polypropylene film), or by laminating a polymeric film(such as polypropylene film or an expanded core polymeric film such asexpanded core polypropylene film) with paper, metallized foil and thelike. The only requirement in using a laminate to produce the web ofpolymeric material 244 having an appearance and/or texture simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth is that at least one surface ofthe laminate be capable of being modified to provide the laminate withat least one surface having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth.

The modification of the web of polymeric material 244 to provide thematte or textured finish can be accomplished in several ways. Forexample, the web of polymeric material 244 having the matte or texturedfinish which provides the web of polymeric material 244 with theappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth can be produced by printing a web of polymeric material with amatted (i.e. dull finish) ink, by lacquering at least one surface of theweb of polymeric material with a dull finish lacquer or a mattinglacquer, by embossing the web of polymeric material to provide anembossed pattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth, or byflocking the web of polymeric material, or by application of a foamablelacquer or foamable ink to the web of polymeric material, or byembossing and printing the web of polymeric material to provide embossedand printed patterns wherein the embossed and printed patterns may be inregistry, out of registry or wherein a portion of the embossed andprinted patterns are in registry and a portion of the embossed andprinted patterns are out of registry. In addition, a matte or texturedfinish capable of providing the web of polymeric material 244 with anappearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture ofcloth can be achieved by extruding a polymeric resin onto a matted ortextured chill roll.

Referring again to FIG. 21, a roll 248 of the web of polymeric material244 having a matte or textured finish 246 is supported on a mandrel 250having a brake assembly 252 operably connected thereto so that the webof polymeric material 244 having a matte or textured finish 246 can becontrollably withdrawn from the roll 248. The web of polymeric material244 having a matte or textured finish 246 is passed through a pair oftension or nip rollers 254 and 256 and into a slitter or shredder unit258 where the web of polymeric material 244 having a matte or texturedfinish 246 is slit to provide a slit web of polymeric material 260having a plurality of strips of predetermined width. The slitting of theweb of polymeric material 244 having a matte or textured finish 246 toproduce the slit web of polymeric material 244 having a plurality ofstrips of predetermined width can be accomplished using any well knownmethod and device. Such common methods of slitting the web of polymericmaterial 244 having a matte or textured finish 246 include: (a) slittingthe web of polymeric material 244 having a matte or textured finish 246to produce side-by-side strips of material wherein the longer dimensionof the strips is in the direction of travel of the web of polymericmaterial 244 having a matte or textured finish 246, i.e. the machinedirection; or (b) slitting the web of polymeric material 244 having amatte or textured finish so that the longer dimension of the strips ofmaterial are oblique to the direction of travel of the web of polymericmaterial 244 having a matte or textured finish, i.e. obliquely to themachine direction.

The slit web of polymeric material 260 having a plurality of strips ofpredetermined width is then passed through a cutting unit 262 where thestrips of the slit web of polymeric material 260 are cut into segmentsto form the decorative grass 242 having at least one surface with amatted or textured finish 246 which provides the decorative grass 242with an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth. A segment 264 of the decorative grass 242 having atleast one matted or textured surface 246 which provides the decorativegrass 242 with an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearanceand/or texture of cloth is illustrated in FIG. 22A.

Any conventional device and method can be employed as the slitter orshredder unit 258 for slitting of the web of polymeric material 244 toproduce the slit web of polymeric material 260 having a plurality ofstrips of predetermined width and as the cutting unit 262 for cuttingthe strips of the slit web of polymeric material 260 to form thedecorative grass 242 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth. Examples of conventional deviceswhich can be used as the slitter or shredder unit 258 and/or as thecutting unit 262 are rotary knives, reciprocating knives, die cutting,laser cutting, water jet cutting, air jet cutting and the like.

The decorative grass 242 having an appearance and/or texture simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth produced by cutting the strips ofthe slit web of polymeric material 260 can then be conveyed to a storagearea (not shown) which may be in the form of a suitable bin, or thedecorative grass 242 having an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth may be conveyed to a packagingmachine, or conveyed to a baling machine for baling prior to storage. Asother alternatives, the decorative grass 242 having an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth may be placedinto boxes or cartons, subjected to further processing immediately orheld for subsequent processing.

Referring now to FIG. 22B, designated generally by the reference numeral266, is a segment of a decorative grass 268 having an appearance and/ortexture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth produced fromthe flexible sheet of laminated material 112 a having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of clothhereinbefore described with reference to FIG. 9B, except that both theupper and lower surfaces of the laminated material 112 a is providedwith a matted or textured finish so that the decorative grass 268 isalso provided with a matte or textured finish 270 on an upper and lowersurface 272 and 274, respectively, of the segments of the decorativegrass 268, such as the segment 266 illustrated in FIG. 22B. However, itshould be understood that the decorative grass 268 having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth can beproduced from any laminated material where at least one surface of thelaminated material can be modified, such as by matting or texturing, toprovide the laminated material with an appearance simulating cloth.

The decorative grasses having an appearance and/or texture simulatingthe appearance and/or texture of cloth prepared in accordance with thepresent invention, such as the decorative grass 242 (FIG. 22A) and thedecorative grass 268 (FIG. 22B) can also be provided with various typesof curl configurations, can be crimped or otherwise modified. That is,in addition to providing the webs of material from which the decorativegrasses are produced with a matted or textured surface which assimilatescloth, various types of curls, crimps and combinations thereof can beimparted to the webs of material prior to slitting the webs of materialto produce slit webs of material, or to the slit web of material priorto cutting the slit webs of material to produce the decorative grasseshaving an appearance and/or texture simulating the appearance and/ortexture of cloth. Any method or apparatus capable of imparting thedesired curl and/or crimp to the webs of material so that the decorativegrasses produced from such webs of material possess both a curl and/orcrimped configuration and an appearance and/or texture simulating theappearance and/or texture of cloth can be employed to impart a curland/or crimp to the webs of material. Examples of various methods andapparatus which may be used to impart curl configurations to the webs ofmaterial employed to produce decorative grasses having an appearanceand/or texture simulating the appearance and/or texture of cloth aredescribed in co-pending U.S. patent application U.S. Ser. No 08/879,242,entitled “Method and Apparatus For Making Curled Decorative Grass” whichis hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Crimping machinescapable of imparting the desired crimp to the webs of material so thatthe decorative grasses produced from such webs of material possess acrimped configuration, as well as having a paper-like appearance arewell known and commercially available. One method for imparting a crimpconfiguration to the webs of material so that the decorative grassesproduced from such webs of material possess a crimped configuration, aswell as having a paper-like appearance, is disclosed in co-pending U.S.patent application U.S. Ser. No. 08/796,182, entitled “Method Of FormingCurled Or Crimped Decorative Elements Having An Optical Effect” which ishereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Changes may be made in the construction and the operation of the variouscomponents, elements and assemblies described herein or in the steps orthe sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the followingclaims.

1. A method for producing decorative grass having an appearance or texture simulating the appearance or texture of cloth, the method comprising the steps of: providing a sheet or web of polymeric material having an upper surface and a lower surface wherein at least a portion of one of the upper and lower surfaces thereof is provided with an appearance or texture simulating the appearance or texture of cloth, wherein the polymeric material is selected from the group consisting of polymeric film, paper, metallized foil and combinations or laminates thereof; and. cutting at least a portion of the sheet or web of polymeric material into segments to produce decorative grass having an appearance or texture simulating the appearance or texture of cloth on at least a portion of one surface thereof. 